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Sunday, 17 April 2016

Television review: Galavant season 2

In this surprising second season of the adventure comedy Galavant, Isabella is engaged against her will to her eleven-year old cousin, Galavant is trying to find an army to free her and Richard the former king of Valencia is trying to find a new role for himself while his wife Madelena and former best friend Gareth rule his kingdom.How to describe Galavant? It's clear this is one-of-a-kind show. Not a period drama persé, but an adventure vaguely set in Medieval times with romance, singing and a lot of laughs. After thoroughly enjoying the first season of the show, I was so happy it was renewed for a second run, even though the viewing figures were not that great for such an expensive show. And really, this second season was even better than the first in my opinion, more creative and with unexpected plot-changes.

Humor is at the heart of this show, I was LOLing multiple times during each episode. Most of the humor is really quite clever, with quips to typical fairytale tropes and famous movies or tv shows (for example Lord of the Rings which was hilariously parodied in this season!), modern stuff in the Medieval background and breaking of the fourth wall. Some of the jokes are a little bland or trite, but really, this is a minority.

Interestingly for a series named Galavant, the real hero of this second season was in my opinion Richard. I already loved Timothy Odmundson in this role in the first season, but this season gave him a really amazing storyline and made him very endearing. Stumbling around trying to be 'Gal's' sidekick, finding a new purpose for his life now that he has been dethroned and wooing his lady love. Talking about that, I thought Roberta was a great new addition to the 'team', I loved her level headedness and her dry humor.Compared to those storylines, the story of Galavant and Isabella this season felt a little 'of', which was probably because they spent most of the episodes apart. Still, Isabella got some amazing scenes and actress Karen David clearly had a lot of fun with her role. Since Isabella was 'hypnotized' for a few episodes, David basically got to play two roles in one!

As I said, this is an expensive series, and really, it shows. All the settings are elaborate and well-made. There is no skimping on extras and the costumes are nice. This is no BBC show, but then again, Galavant never claimed to be a historically accurate period drama. The show just looks good!

All in all, if you're looking for some fun in a Medieval setting, look no further than Galavant! (But do start at the beginning!)

Content: Some songs and jokes reference sex, though almost never explicit. In one episode the characters go into a gay bar. Mostof the violence is of the cartoonish variant, but the villains do jokingly refer to enjoying stabbing and torture. There is some mild profanity.This is my third review for the Period Drama challenge at Old-Fashioned Charm!

3 comments:

Ahhhhh, yes, Galavant. I watched the 1st season and enjoyed most of it, but didn't get a chance to watch the 2nd season. I may still do that one of these days since you make it sound better than the 1st season. :)

I've not finished season one (or maybe I did!? Goes to show you I watch too many TV shows) and therefore haven't started season two, but I did laugh throughout season one, so at some point I should finish this one. Because who doesn't love some smiles and giggles in our TV shows!? :)

About Me

Welcome, everyone! I'm a 32-year old Dutchwoman. I'm a Christian and recently finished my PhD in veterinary science. I'm an Anglophile and a history lover and therefore my favourite movies are period dramas and my favourite books the classics or historical novels. I love animals and nature and my favourite season is spring! Enjoy your stay here and I hope you'll find some new titles to read or watch!
My 'other' blog is birdienl.livejournal.com where I've been posting for the last few years. If you're interested in more book or movie reviews, you can find them there as well!